The Keeper and The Outcast
by ScaleThornWolf
Summary: My first story on here. Inspired with the help of a few friends and somewhat based off of the online game. It's still in the early stages but I will change the summary as I progress. The rating is T for teen just in case.
1. Chapter 1

In the halls of Grenhaven Castle, a red fox dashed along with a green cloak in his mouth. A boy followed not too far behind, apologizing profusely for running into others as he chased the animal.

"Zephyr, please we don't have time for this!" he wheezed as he rounded another corner. It had been nearly seven days since his arrival to Greenhaven, and still his spirit animal refused to listen to him. Every morning it was the same routine: get dressed, chase after your stolen cloak, go to training after retrieving said cloak, train (and hopefully have your spirit animal listen to you), and then do whatever you planned the night before.

_They say that I'm the Keeper. Rohan Summerfall, the beacon of hope for Erdas. How can I do that when I can't even control this stupid fox?_ The boy, Rohan, thought to himself as he rolled blue his eyes and turned down the next hall only to find it empty.

_Every time! Why does he always do this? He runs, I chase, he escapes, I search for him, and then I turn around and there he is on floor. Why couldn't I have summoned something slower or more obedient? _Rohan sighed as he slumped against the wall, eyes closed.

"Okay, I give up. You can come out now…..I'm not mad I'm just tired…Come on, I don't want to keep Eko waiting…Please?"

Nothing but silence rewarded Rohan's plea. Rohan waited lost in thought, Zephyr would come eventually. A small kick to his shin broke him out of his thoughts. Rohan opened his eyes to see a Greencloak with a scowl on his face, a cloak in his left hand, and his right hand holding the limp body of a fox by the scruff.


	2. Chapter 2

Rohan gasped, Zephyr wasn't moving, and he didn't even appear to be breathing.

"What did you do!?" his voice barely above a shriek of terror.

"Is he yours?" the Greencloak growled as he threw the cloak in his hand at the boy.

"What did you do!?"

"Is that a yes?"

"What did you do!?" was all Rohan could answer.

"What did I do? I caught him, isn't it that obvious?" the Greencloak lifted the animal up to his face at eye level. "Don't worry, he's not dead. He's just faking it. Most animals do that when they're caught like prey." He answered in a softer tone glancing over to the boy and handing over the spirit animal to the frightened Keeper.

Sensing the security of solid ground again, the fox jumped up with a yelp and scampered to hide behind Rohan's leg. Something about Zephyr's stance and the tone of his growl told Rohan that there was something dangerous about this Greencloak, not wanting to be even later for training with Eko, Rohan turned and ran.

"I suggest you learn to have better control of your spirit animal, unless you end up annoying everyone else in this castle! Now get out of my sight before I change my mind about releasing your little trickster." Was all Rohan received as he dashed away.

_Why would a Greencloak be so mean, especially towards a spirit animal?_ Rohan wondered to himself.

Rohan realized that he didn't see a tattoo of a spirit animal anywhere on the Greencloak's arm. Is that why? Was he jealous over that fact that Rohan had a spirit animal while his was probably gone forever?


	3. Chapter 3

Rohan struggled to stop himself from falling off the saddle when he heard the shrill screech of Eko's training whistle. He had been forced to train on horseback for an extra hour as consequence for being late…again.

"This is what happens if you continue to be late for lessons. I hope you learn from this and not disappoint me next time. And I don't care if your fox made you late, you should know how to cooperate by now" Eko, his mentor snapped. Her tigress, who had maintained a predatory gaze throughout the session, was now curled up asleep at her side.

"Yes, ma'am" was all Rohan could say in return. It was best not to argue with her.

Eko was short for her age of twenty years, being only 5 feet and 6 inches she was often mistaken for an 18 year old Greencloak. She seemed to have a no-nonsense attitude when it came to training, especially when the training involved horses or medicine. She rarely ever taught him in combat skills, she always made him learn about animals and their behaviors instead. Sometimes Rohan wondered if she ever even experienced combat.

Glancing at the sky to see that it was nearly midday she sighed "That's enough for today. We'll resume training tomorrow morning…and DON'T. BE. LATE" taking care to enunciate the last three words.

"Yes ma'am"

"You're being awfully quiet today. You didn't say anything when you came in, you haven't asked any questions, all you ever said this entire time is "Yes ma'am" and "No ma'am", and you've never said any of that before. Is everything okay?" she asked in a concerned voice.

"Just wondering about something"

"What is it? I'm willing to help you but I can't do that if I don't know what's plaguing your mind."

Rohan thought for a moment before he blurted out "Can you still be a Greencloak without a spirit animal?"

Eko was silent for a moment, putting a finger to her lips in thought. "I don't know. I've heard of spirit animals losing their Greencloak and still reside in Greenhaven. One of the horses in the stable is an example….but I don't know if that's the same for people"

"What happens when you lose your spirit animal?" Rohan asked as dismounted from the saddle.

"I'm not sure. But I heard that it's a horrible experience, more horrible than losing an arm or leg from what I was told…Are you and Zephyr arguing?"

At the mention of the word 'arguing' Eko's tiger lifted its head and seemed to look at Eko with baleful eyes and made a low moan-like sound followed by a rustling noise, signaling that it wanted some form of attention. Zephyr, who had yet to go into dormant state, trotted over to Rohan and nuzzled against his leg, probably to disprove the idea that he and Rohan were arguing.

"No, sometime I have to chase Zephyr when he takes something from me. But I always forgive him later I would never argue with him, I was just curious…"

"Did something happen?" Eko asked, her voice filled with worry and concern.

"I saw a Greencloak today who didn't have a spirit animal, it wasn't dormant on his arm or sitting next to him or anything….He caught Zephyr as I was chasing him this morning, he wasn't happy about it…He told me to "get out of my sight before I change my mind about releasing your little trickster"….The way he was holding Zephyr almost made me think he was dead." Rohan recited with perfect clarity of the incident in the halls.

"Oh, I think I know who you're talking about. He radiates this feeling of anger and hostility to strangers but he has a good heart." Eko's voice seemed to change from concern to more of a relaxed but guarded tone.

"Why does he act so mean?"

"I don't know exactly why. He's been like that for a long time. I think he does it because he was raised that way. Show no friendly emotions and you won't get hurt. That's what I think it is."

"But what about his spirit animal, he didn't have one on his arm or anything?"

"He has a spirit animal; it's just very shy around strangers and prefers not to let others know what she looks like. They both worry that everyone will be afraid of them if they find out the true identity of his spirit animal."

"What is his spirit animal?"

"I'd like to tell you more, but I have several commitments that I need to attend to. If you really want to know, I suggest you ask him yourself to get a better idea of who he really is rather than finding unproven information about him behind his back like a gossiping fishwife." She snapped out in irritation of having to answer so many questions.

Rohan shut his mouth and decided it was best not to ask anymore, and led his horse back to the stables. After unsaddling and grooming the horse in its stall, he thought angrily to himself about the earlier conversation

_Gee, what's with the attitude all of the sudden? Why is she getting all defensive about it? She's the one that started it. If I hadn't have to chase Zephyr this morning this whole thing wouldn't have happened_

The sharp bark of a fox broke Rohan out of his thoughts just in time to avoid running straight into the door of the Moon Tower, he had no clue as to why his sub-consciousness had decided to bring him here. He couldn't help but glance at Zephyr who was pawing at the door by his feet. Taking it as a sign that his anger was something that needed to be dealt with, he sighed and pushed open to door.

The room looked empty except for the instruments piled around the room and something that appeared to be a 7 foot crocodile lying in the middle of the room with its legs stretched out and lying flat on the floor, but it didn't look like any crocodile Rohan had ever seen before. Curious, he crept closer to get a better look while Zephyr sniffed its tail tip from a short distance.

Its head was short and its jaws lacked teeth, the back and tail didn't have the characteristic plating of normal crocodilians but rather a rugged scaled hide. Its body was a dull grey in color with a splash of light brown along its back, almost giving it the appearance that it had recently rolled in the mud. Its feet were not webbed but rather had five digits tipped with wicked looking claws. It didn't look like a crocodile at all; it looked more like a lizard to him.

"_What is this thing?" _Rohan whispered to himself as he circled the strange looking crocodile. Wondering whether it was just a figment of his imagination or a real animal, he slowly reached out to touch the middle of its tail. He knew that touching the head was more stupid than going into battle without a weapon.

"By the Four Fallen! Did you even listen to me about staying out my way? Or are you just too stupid to know better?" a voice growled behind Rohan, causing him to spin around on his heels only to lose his balance a fall backwards on the crocodile-lizard. The crocodile-lizard hissed in response and whipped its body out from under him, Zephyr yelped in surprise as its tail smacked against his face. Claws scraped against the floor as it pulled its body into an upright position on its back legs, looming over the boy as if it were about to eat him. Rohan looked up to see the same Greencloak from earlier this morning glaring down with a twisted look of disgust and confusion.

"Well," he said "are you too stupid to remember what I say, or do you just enjoy making people angry?"

* * *

Wow, that took forever for me to write (it took at least 2 hours today). I think this is the longest chapter I've written so far. The questions Rohan asks about whether you can still be a Greencloak if you lose your spirit animal is something that I've always wondered about.

Part of me thinks that you can still be a Greencloak but your abilities are limited. In book 2 they mentioned a horse that had once been a spirit animal before losing his human companion, and yet the horse is allowed to stay in Greenhaven, so I thought "Is that the same for people too?" I don't know.

I have not yet finished book 3 due to the demands of school work and other real life commitments but that doesn't mean I still cant write in my spare time. My mind keeps planning out future chapters that are not supposed to happen until way later in the story, and to prevent myself from losing those ideas I have to keep working on the next chapter to get there.

Thank you for reading and don't forget to give constructive criticism. Please let me know of any grammar errors and I will be happy to fix them.

Sincerely,

ScaleThorn


	4. Chapter 4

Before Rohan could think of a reasonable excuse the Greencloak yanked him up off the floor by the collar, raising the boy to his eye level. The crocodile-lizard staggered back before lowering itself down to all fours to gaze up and flick her tongue out against Rohan's feet. Now at eye level with each other, Rohan was able to get a better look at the older Greencloak's features.

He was obviously strong, strong enough to lift an 11 year old boy. His hair was long and unkempt, reaching down to his shoulders. His brown eyes remain fixed on Rohan, as if he were a wolf staring down an unruly pup. His face had a tight jawline and there were several small scars barely visible beneath the messy hair along his forehead. Roughly a foot taller than Eko, everything about him radiated hostility and antipathy.

"Well, what are you doing here?" he growled, "I thought I told you to stay out of my way? Are you too stupid to remember what I say, or do you just enjoy making people angry?"

"Um, I uh" Rohan stammered, trying to think up a clever lie. "I…"

"I what?" the elder Greencloak snapped, "Did you come here on your own free will just to annoy me, or did you come here for me to beat some sense into your skull?"

"I…I was sent here by my mentor to… to work on bonding with Zephyr." Was all Rohan could stammer out.

"Oh, really?" the Greencloak returned sarcastically before dropping the young Keeper to the floor.

"Yes, I can play music; I just never found the time to do so." Rohan's eyes darted around the room wildly, trying to locate the closest instrument that looked simple enough to play. Just then, an idea popped into his head.

"I…I'm sorry for my actions. I think we got off on the wrong foot, if I play something good…do you think we could start over? If not, I'll leave and never get in your way again."

The Greencloak thought for a moment "Alright, fine. Tia has grown tired of the usual Amayan melodies and its put her in a rather bad mood, I'm sure if you play something she likes I'll forgive you."

Rohan didn't need to hear any more explanation, he was already rifling through a collection of music sheets from Eura (the only music he knew how to play). All of them appeared to be too complex for his limited knowledge of music and reading. The only thing he knew how to play was a simple flute, and he only knew a few tunes to play with the instrument.

_Where are the music sheets for flute music when you need them? _Rohan thought frantically. Zephyr sniffed around the box of music sheets, as if he would be able to find one by scent.

"Is there something wrong?" the young man behind him asked in an almost impatient manner.

"Uh, I uh….I can only find one tune to play for a flute." Rohan stammered nervously.

"Doesn't matter, if you know how to play it then play it. Just make sure you don't play too low or high-pitched or Tia won't be able to hear it clearly." Was the only thing the young man could say that didn't sound like anything insulting…or reassuring either.

With shaking hands the young Keeper lifted the flute to his lips, took a deep breath to calm him and to still his shaking hands, and began to play. The tune was slightly fast paced, it was supposed to be. It was a tune that Rohan used to play for young noble ladies who wished to dance. Rohan noticed the crocodile-lizard close its eyes and bob its head in an off-beat rhythm; it apparently seemed to be enjoying the music.

"You play well for one so young and a tune so fast. It's an interesting one that neither of us has heard before. Tell me: what is your name?" the older Greencloak asked after Rohan had finished playing.

"It's Rohan"

The Greencloak grunted at the name. "Never heard of you, my name is Glen and that's Tia whom you've already met." He gestured to the crocodile-lizard who was now nuzzling his right leg before vanishing to dormant state.

"Nice to meet you," Rohan returned "hard to believe you haven't heard of me. I'm the one everyone's calling The Keeper."

"You're the one Lenori prophesized about?" Glen asked, rather disappointed.

"Yeah, why are you jealous or something?"

"No, I just assumed you'd be a bit older or stronger or something if you were the Keeper. So far you seem like no use to the Greencloaks, considering the fact you can barely get along with your spirit animal"

"I'm not weak; I just need time to develop enough skill to be useful." Rohan retorted angrily. For someone who wanted to start over and become friends, Glen didn't seem to do a good job at it.

* * *

Geez, this took a long time to write out. I've been rather busy with school and other family matters lately and I'm sorry for taking so long to upload this chapter. Chapter 5 will hopefully uploaded soon. I have the beginning part planned out in my head but I need to work out the rest so it may take some time.

I will gradually reveal a bit more about Glen and his spirit animal (Tiamat) as the story progresses. I'm planning on doing so in the next chapter or so after Chapter 5, the plotline for Ch. 5 is really persistent in wanting to be put onto paper/typed according to my brain. But I still have school and some important family matters going on that require my attention, don't worry I'll still find time to write whether I be happy as a lark or down in the dumps with sadness.

I have finished book 3&4 but I will not be reading Against the Tide because someone thought I had already read it and told me who the trator was anyway without even asking me. Sooo yeah, I'm pretty bummed about that.

Thank you for reading and don't forget to give constructive criticism. Please let me know of any grammar errors and I will be happy to fix them.

Sincerely,

ScaleThorn


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